Tea, cake and demise

Death – it’s not typically a tea-and-cake conversation, but Carole Spice and Grace McGregor disagree.

Their eagerness to discuss the deceased has lead them to host a death café right here in the Bay.

Carole Spice and Grace McGregor (blondie) at a ‘Death Café’ which is actually Grinds Café on 1st Ave.

Yes, you read that right – a death café. A place to sit and chat about death and enjoy some treats.

“Both Grace and I have a keen interest in opening the conversations around dying and death, and as a couple of fearless death talkers, we are living proof that talking about death does not kill you,” says Carole.

“There is no agenda set by us, it is a group led discussion that is gently facilitated.”

Carole and Grace hold the meetings at Grindz Café once every six weeks or so, after their debut death café in a tepee at the Delightful Festival of Body and Sound earlier this year.

“With the baby boomers now approaching the end of life, their influence on doing death differently will be felt across all areas involved in their end of days care, funerals and the like. We are on the crest of the wave, with more and more people looking for alternatives, options and ways to make the experiences uniquely their own.”

Grace and Carole’s death café will be hosting a screening of the movie ‘Zen and the Art of Dying’ here in Tauranga on October 2 from 5pm at Rialto Cinemas Tauranga.

‘Zen and the Art of Dying’ focuses on how the view of death is changing and how people’s fears around death are dissolving.

The movie is an ‘on demand’ screening meaning tickets must be pre-bought to ensure the screening goes ahead.

“We are really hoping that the screening goes ahead as it is a gentle way to introduce these much needed conversations to friends and family, something we believe our communities can really benefit from,” says Grace.

For more information on Tauranga death cafes and to book tickets to the ‘Zen and the Art of Dying’ film visit them on their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TaurangaDeathCafe